


Leaving

by whoaswetha



Category: The Hour
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-20
Updated: 2013-06-20
Packaged: 2017-12-15 15:15:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/851007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whoaswetha/pseuds/whoaswetha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Bel Rowley is fired from her job -a job she worked hard for- Freddie disappears from her life without a word -although it wasn't hard to figure out why-  Freddie comes back with a single question that could determine the future of their relationship forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leaving

“Moneypenny.” 

Bel had heard that tone of voice exactly one in her entire life and her association with Freddie. It was precisely when he told her what she really meant to him. It was filled with hope but sadness and loss all at once. There was a tinge of it that reminded her of what Freddie must have been like as a child. Truthfully, it was rather frightening because she never knew how to read him. His father had passed away in the past week, and he wasn’t himself. Chances were, he was going to do something incredibly stupid, and as his best friend, it was Bel’s _duty_ to stop him.

She pressed the receiver closer to her ear and brushed her hair away from her face and angling her body away from the door, so all on looking people could see through her window was her back. It had been nearly a week since she heard from Freddie and, oh _God_ she missed his voice dearly.

“Freddie.” She says in way of greeting. There was nothing she could say, not _now,_ not in the office.

“I’m going to ask you something, and you’re going to tell me I’m crazy but you’re going to answer me anyways.”

She raised an eyebrow, momentarily forgetting that he couldn’t actually see her.

“Okay…” Bel chewed on her lip and glanced momentarily outside her office window. Technically she should be working right now and it’s completely hypocritical of her to be taking a personal call (she _hated_ it when people did that, it was highly unprofessional. And Bel wasn't anything if not professional.)

“Ask away.” Bel isn’t quite sure what to expect. This story, and his firing had physically drained Freddie. Journalism and Bel. The two most important things of his life were gone, and they were inexplicably linked. Bel could feel the rays of his loneliness dripping out of him and it startled her. Freddie did a very good job of hiding how he felt often times, but _now_ he wasn’t even trying.

The last time she saw him was at the bar, nursing a single malt whiskey the evening of his Father’s funeral. Both of them were dressed in black but Freddie was the one who looked like he actually needed the drink. He said nothing to her as she sat down next to him. He was nursing his own bad luck and handsomely expensive whiskey, refusing to talk.

So she talked for him. She told him how life was, how everyone simply missed him, and how he really held the team together, and even though The Hour was taken off air, everyone still got together for drinks. She invited him (not that he’d come)  She told him about her broken apartment and how she was really going to see someone about her bloody door but she simply hadn’t had the time and all this nonsensical nonsense he probably didn’t give a damn about. But Bel hated awkward silences. Always had, most likely always will. She’d do anything to fill the time and it was a dreadful habit.

“Moneypenny, I appreciate your endeavors to cheer me up, but it’s really not going to happen today.” He swallows the last of his whiskey and walks out of the bar, leaving her startled at his behavior.

The memory brings a bitter taste in her mouth, and even though she forgave him (he was grieving for her father, such behavior was understandable, even _necessary_ ), it still was quite disconcerting to see him so thrown apart as if someone had ignited a bomb inside him and his skin was holding him together, just barely.  She found it hard to breathe with the lump in her throat.

“Moneypenny, I’m leaving.”

Her brow crinkles. _Leaving? Leaving where? Freddie can’t go anywhere. Doesn’t he know that I need him?_

When she finally found her voice again, she asks him

“Where are you going?”

“Abroad. I…I don’t think I can stand it here. I’m going to make the reservations tomorrow.”

“How long are you going away for?” she was careful to maintain her tone of nonchalance, refusing to acknowledge the tears that were threatening to blow.

“I don’t know yet. I don’t know how long I’m going to go, or how long I’ll be away from home, but I do know one thing: I want you with me. Please, Bel, will you come?”

She almost had to laugh. How tempting it was, to run away from all her problems, just as if she was some mindless child. Of course, Freddie would ask her.

But, Bel had a mission. Her goal was to get The Hour running again, and while Freddie can go off and act like a child, she wouldn’t dare. She worked too hard and too long to run away now. How could he expect her to throw away all that for some sight seeing?

Freddie sounded so broken, so tired from it all. She wondered what he must look like, standing at the phone, in his undershirt and trousers, his hair all mussed from sleep, with bags under his eyes. Truthfully, she felt an ounce of pity run its course through her, but even then, she could see his point. And she could see hers. It was then, that she felt truly sad, not only for him but for the both of them.

“Moneypenny?” he asked again, carefully.

“No.” she said softly. It hurt her to have to hurt him in this way.

“Sorry?”

“No, Freddie. I can’t come with you, I’ve got too mu-“

The line went dead. She bit her lip and refused to cry. _Producers don’t cry._

_But women do._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
